Rubber Tree (Hevea brasiliensis)

Product description

This tropical tree from the Amazon basin has white, latex-like sap in its trunk veins. By carefully making a notch, this sap can be collected as a natural source of rubber. This usually hapens with buckets that are attached to the trunk in which the sap slowly drips, like you can see on the photo. Nowadays most of the rubber is produced in Asia after a fungus infection shut down the prodcution in South America in the early 20th century. Rubber tapping still happens at a large scale. Natural rubber has a much higher quality than the synthetic version and is therefore greatly sought after. In the tropics the tree can grow up to a height of 40 meters, but commercial trees usually stay a lot smaller because of the harvesting impact. It can be kept as a houseplant and has eye-catching decorative leaves. It is unrealistic to harvest rubber from your own plant, but if the plant is scratched or a leaf is dropped, some latex will leak from the plant.
 
Sowing description: Sow the seeds in sowing mix shortly after receiving them, as they have a short shelf-life. Keep the soil lightly moist and keep at 25-30dgC. Germination usually occurs after a few weeks.